EARLY ALERT AND INTERVENTION SYSTEMS AND STUDENT PERSISTENCE : AN EXPLORATION OF STUDENT PERCEPTIONS

Postsecondary institutions have increasingly attempted to discover innovative methods to promote student engagement and persistence, thus combating student attrition. In recent years, the higher education landscape has been flooded with intervention strategies sourced in early alert systems that utilize technological components to encourage student connections to institutional support entities. Whether homegrown or commercially developed, early alert systems provide cost-effective means of bolstering student persistence while depleting limited financial resources. While early alert systems have the potential to be a useful and cost-effective tactic to provide students with platforms for connections to faculty, academic advisors, and support resources, their development and implementation provides challenges.
This study was based on Tinto’s student development and Astin’s student engagement theories. The purpose of this study was to uncover and analyze student perceptions of early alert system usage as a retention tool, an area of research lacking depth. The entire undergraduate student enrollment (N = 21,437) during the fall 2014 academic semester at East Carolina University was invited to complete an on-line survey requesting student opinions of campus utilization of the Starfish™ early alert system. A total of 4,658 student responses were collected.
A series of statistical tests were used to assess differences in student perceptions of early alert system usage. General student opinions of early alert system structure and differences within student population groups and demographics were also discovered through data examination. Additionally, results of the analysis showed statistical significance indicating that early alert systems serve as conduits between students and the institution, impacting their educational satisfaction, motivation to seek resources, communication with campus officials, and overall sense of belonging.
Results from this study offer implications and recommendations for administrators, faculty, and other key institutional decision-makers focused on utilizing early alert systems as a retention tool. Study findings contribute to the body of knowledge on student development, engagement, and persistence, yet additional research is necessary to further investigate the impact of early alert systems in higher education.